Krishna Suman Dara

Title of the Talk: Network Digital Twins: A Strategic Foundation for AI-Driven Operations

Abstract :
As networks evolve into increasingly complex, software-defined environments, traditional reactive monitoring is no longer sufficient to maintain high-availability standards. This session explores the transition from static modeling to real-time, AI-driven Network Digital Twins (NDTs). Unlike standard simulations, an NDT serves as a dynamic, high-fidelity replica of the physical network, capable of continuous telemetry ingestion and temporal analysis.

The presentation shifts the focus from simple visualization to operational intelligence, demonstrating how NDTs enable predictive analytics and autonomous remediation. Attendees will explore architectural patterns for integrating Graph Neural Networks and advanced machine learning models to automate root cause analysis and future state generation. Through real-world use cases, the session provides a blueprint for engineering leaders to move beyond legacy manual diagnostics, offering a path to build self-governing networks that anticipate failures before they impact the end-user experience.

Bio :
Suman Dara is a Senior Principal Engineer at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) / Juniper Networks, where he leads R&D initiatives in advanced routing architecture and product engineering. With over 20 years of experience in network architecture, distributed systems, and routing R&D, Suman has been instrumental in the development and launch of flagship routing portfolios, including the ACX and MX product lines.

Suman bridges deep infrastructure expertise with emerging AI/ML methodologies to solve complex, non-linear network challenges. He is an active industry innovator, focused on patenting and deploying Network Digital Twin technologies to enable autonomous remediation and predictive network analytics.